California's 12th congressional district election, 1946

California's 12th congressional district election, 1946

← 1944 November 5, 1946 1948 →
Nominee Richard Nixon Jerry Voorhis Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 65,586 49,994 Percentage 56.02% 42.70%
U.S. Representative before election Jerry Voorhis Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Richard Nixon Republican

Jerry Voorhis
Democratic

Richard Nixon
Republican

An election for a seat in the United States House of Representatives took place in California's 12th congressional district on November 5, 1946, the date set by law for the elections for the 80th United States Congress. In the 12th district election, the candidates were five-term incumbent Democrat Jerry Voorhis, Republican challenger Richard Nixon, and former congressman and Prohibition Party candidate John Hoeppel. Nixon was elected with 56% of the vote, starting him on the road that would, almost a quarter century later, lead to the presidency.

First elected to Congress in 1936, Voorhis had defeated lackluster Republican opposition four times in the then-rural Los Angeles County district to win re-election. For the 1946 election, Republicans sought a candidate who could unite the party and run a strong race against Voorhis in the Republican-leaning district. After failing to secure the candidacy of General George Patton, in November 1945 they settled on Lieutenant Commander Richard Nixon, who had lived in the district prior to his World War II service.

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